Chapter 200: Haru VS Woo Sung-Chan (5) |
"I will prepare Haru to the best of my ability until the day of the audition."
This was my answer when faced with Yoo Hyun-Ji's question of how to persuade Kim Tae-Chon, the chief producer of Master of Mukbang.
Yoo Hyun-Ji smiled. "What? That's it?"
She looked as if she wanted to ask if that's all I've got when I managed to win her over.
In fact, I knew a way to persuade Kim Tae-Chon. But convincing him would require a lot of entertaining.
In my past life, Woo Sung-Chan became the main lead of Master of Mukbang not only because of his exceptional looks and his status as the son of Woo Sun-Jae, the owner of Jamsil's top Korean restaurant but also due to the influence of Kim Dong-Soo's entertainment.
But there was no need for such measures this time. After all, everything would be over as soon as Choi So-Hye broke the news concerning Woo Sung-Chan.
Unaware of my intentions, Yoo Hyun-Ji showed a troubled expression. It seemed she thought I would suggest entertaining Kim Tae-Chon with drinks, but that was far from the truth.
"Sigh, okay. I'll do my best for now, so you, Team Lead Jung, think of something else as well. It's really hard to convince Mr. Kim," Yoo Hyun-Ji said.
I thought, 'No, he will have no choice but to change his mind. A bombshell is about to drop soon.'
Just as I was about to get up, Yoo Hyun-Ji shared another concern. "But the thing is, Haru's age doesn't match the drama setting..."
Master of Mukbang was about a freshman in college who lived alone and recreated dishes from local restaurants he visited at home. However, there was a problem with the setting because Haru was only 16 years old and a minor like him couldn't live alone.
"No one will believe he's a college student because he's too short... What do we do?" Yoo Hyun-Ji pondered.
"If his age being young and living alone conflicts with the setting, how about adding a new actor as an uncle or an older brother? That could resolve the discrepancy," I suggested.
"I've thought about that as well, but we don’t have the budget to add another actor," Yoo Hyun-Ji explained.
"Why not use a cameo then?"
Yoo Hyun-Ji's eyes sparkled. "Oh? It seems like you already have someone in mind. Go on, tell me."
"How about Mr. Lee Tae-Poong? I think he would be suitable," I proposed.
Yoo Hyun-Ji stared at me intently.
Lee Tae-Poong becoming the lead in Choi Sung-Moon's Beyond the Boundary was a well-known story in the broadcasting industry. Everyone was taken by surprise because the renowned Choi Sung-Moon would never choose an actor just by his looks.
"I've heard the rumors too. They say Mr. Tae-Poong's acting has improved a lot, huh?" Yoo Hyun-Ji asked.
"You’d be surprised if you saw him yourself. Even Mr. Choi Sung-Moon said a cameo would be fine."
Yoo Hyun-Ji's face brightened. "There's no winning against you, Team Lead Jung. You just read right through my mind. Okay, then make sure Haru practices his acting well for the audition. As long as there are no major issues, I'll push for him to be the lead."
Haru and I got up and bowed our heads. "Thank you, Ms. Yoo!"
Yoo Hyun-Ji laughed heartily and pointed to a tray still full of food. "Now, can I finish off the rest of the food now?"
"Of course. We will take our leave now, so please enjoy your meal at ease," I added with a smile.
Yoo Hyun-Ji nodded and then smiled at Haru and said, "Oh, now that I see him up close, his eyes are quite unique. That's gonna draw lots of attention."
'Yes, people will love those mysterious eyes indeed,' I remarked inwardly.
Haru smiled with twinkling eyes and thanked her once again.
Just like that, Haru and I left Yoo Hyun-Ji's office.
At the same time, I checked my planner.
[Everyday V10.1]
[Date: July 31, 2020]
-06:30 p.m. TVM <Master of Mukbang> Episode 1 Woo Sung-Chan monitoring (Viewership ratings 2.3%)
'It's still not changing, huh?' I thought to myself.
It seemed like Kim Tae-Chon had been bought over by Kim Dong-Soo's entertainment efforts. However, the situation would certainly be over once Choi So-Hye released her article.
After all, broadcasting stations were among the most sensitive to public opinion.
***
All the actor division team leads, chiefs, and directors gathered in the conference room on the sixth floor of Hoop Entertainment.
Today's main agenda was the full-scale promotion plan for Woo Sung-Chan.
Lee Gi-Cheol spoke to Sung Min-Suk, the team lead of the publicity division. "Team Lead Sung, show us how much traction Woo Sung-Chan's articles got today."
"Yes, sir." Sung Min-Suk nodded as he displayed the articles on the large LCD screen in the conference room.
[Person of Interest: Hoop Entertainment's Woo Sung-Chan!]
[Woo Sung-Chan, Hoop Entertainment's Next Star.]
[Woo Sung-Chan. Eyeing TVM's Master of Mukbang for His Next Project?]
[Woo Sung-Chan. Self-Luminous Pretty Boy Aura!]
The entertainment pages were plastered with articles, showing how much money had been spent.
At that moment, Kang Ji-Yung frowned and said, "Mr. Lee, you do know that Haru from Actor Division 2 also applied for the audition of Master of Mukbang, right?"
Lee Gi-Cheol replied, "Of course, I know."
"But don't you think it's unfair to push only one side like this?" Kang Ji-Yung questioned.
Lee Gi-Cheol grinned and started reading Woo Sung-Chan's profile.
"Woo Sung-Chan. He’s trained well for a year and is a perfect fit for a mukbang show since he is the son of the owner of Jamsil's top Korean restaurant, Woo Sun-Jae. He can cook, and his model-like stature and masculine appearance will appeal to teenagers and women in their twenties. Director Kang, don’t you think it’s a bit unfair to compare him with Haru?"
Lee Gi-Cheol's voice rose as he thought he had the upper hand.
Kang Ji-Yung was left speechless for a moment. After all, everything in the objective company profile file did support Lee Gi-Cheol's statement.
Following Lee Gi-Cheol, Kim Dong-Soo excitedly expressed his ambition to support Woo Sung-Chan as a key actor in Actor Division 3.
That's when Sung Min-Suk's face turned white beyond pale after checking the reactions to the articles.
'It's out,' I thought to myself.
Kim Dong-Soo stopped his briefing and looked puzzled. "What's wrong, Mr. Sung?"
Sung Min-Suk stuttered, "Woo-Woo Sung-Chan. There’s an article about him being a bully, sir."
Lee Gi-Cheol’s face instantly turned grim. "What did you say?"
Sung Min-Suk swallowed hard and displayed the article on the LCD. "T-take a look at this."
[Woo Sung-Chan. School Bully! Victim Interview: "He was a devil."]
"H-how could this happen..."
The faces of Kim Dong-Soo and Ju Ho-Sung began to pale.
At that moment, articles about Woo Sung-Chan began to appear simultaneously as if they had been waiting.
[Jamsil's Premier Korean Restaurant Woo Sun-Jae's Eldest Son, Woo Sung-Chan, Involved in a Bullying Incident!]
[Woo Sung-Chan Scheduled to Appear in Master of Mukbang. Horrific Evidence of Bullying!]
......
The meeting about how to promote Woo Sung-Chan as the lead of Master of Mukbang and his future development plan suddenly shifted to a contingency plan for the Woo Sung-Chan bullying scandal.
At the same time, I received a call from Yoo Hyun-Ji.
[Caller: PD Yoo Hyun-Ji]
The reason she called was clear even without answering: It would be about the lead role decision.
But still wanting to be certain, I checked the diary planner.
[Everyday V10.1]
[Date: July 31, 2020]
-06:30 p.m. <Schedule Deleted>
(Deleted Schedule: TVM Master of Mukbang Episode 1 Woo Sung-Chan monitoring (Viewership ratings 2.3%))
I thought, 'It's all over.'
The moment I confirmed that the schedule in the planner was deleted, I immediately turned to Kang Ji-Yung and said, "Ms. Kang, it's a call from Ms. Yoo."
Suddenly, the meeting room which had been noisy discussing how to handle Woo Sung-Chan's school violence incident, quieted down.
At that moment, Kim Dong-Soo glared at me and said, "Don't answer it!"
I figured that the CP of Master of Mukbang must have been trying to reach Kim Dong-Soo after Woo Sung-Chan's bullying incident broke out.
However, Kim Dong-Soo was trying to avoid calls until he could manage the situation.
That's when Lee Gi-Cheol stared at me intently and asked, "No way…Don't tell me you did this."
I defended myself. "Mr. Lee, I understand you're upset about what happened to Woo Sung-Chan, but isn’t that a bit of a stretch? What does his middle school bullying incident have to do with me?"
"You could have tipped off the reporters," Lee Gi-Cheol replied.
'Damn, he's sharper than I thought,' I remarked inwardly.
But I maintained a facade of ignorance.
"Sir, it's harmful to your health to be so suspicious. Besides, if I had the power to drop such a bomb, why would I be here instead of working independently?" I rebutted.
Fortunately, Choi So-Hye had made an effort to keep me out of suspicion. Instead of keeping the story to herself, she distributed different pieces of evidence to various media outlets to spark a chain reaction of articles.
But she had exclusively handled the interview with Lee Si-Yoon, the victim who suffered the most.
Lee Gi-Cheol made a sound as if he was clearing a decade's worth of constipation. "Ugh..."
Just as Kim Dong-Soo was about to retort out of anger, Kang Ji-Yung stopped him and said, "Let's just take the call first. We can't keep avoiding it forever."
I nodded. "Okay."
Everyone in the meeting room held their breath. Following the instruction to use the speakerphone, I switched the call to the speaker mode.
At that moment, Yoo Hyun-Ji's sharp voice came through.
-What took you so long to answer the phone!
"I apologize. I had left my phone outside during the meeting," I replied.
-Quick, put Chief Kim on the line! This isn’t something we can just avoid forever, and Mr. Kim is about to explode because he keeps not answering!
The anger meant for Kim Dong-Soo was directed at me. But since it wasn't really directed at me, I could respond nonchalantly.
"I apologize. But he hasn't had time to answer because he's busy handling the press."
-Fine. Just so you know, we are dropping that jerk Woo Sung-Chan from the lead role!
Kim Dong-Soo suddenly jumped up, as if he wanted to speak to Yoo Hyun-Ji immediately. But there was no way he could just start talking on the phone having avoided their calls until now.
"I understand. I will convey the message."
-Oh, and Mr. Kim says you need to come to the station right now.
"Excuse me? Who?"
-Who do you think? It's obviously you, Team Lead Jung. There’s a mountain of issues to discuss about Haru’s lead role. What? Don't you like it?
I clenched my fists and resisted the urge to jump for joy. I felt like whistling seeing the distorted expressions of staff from Actor Division 3 and Lee Gi-Cheol.
At that moment, Gu Seong-Cheol tapped me on my shoulder and nudged me to respond quickly.
"I-it's my pleasure. I'll be right there," I quickly responded.
-Come right now. And bring a chief with you as well.
"I'll come with Mr. Gu."
-Okay. I’ll let Mr. Kim know. And bring his favorite coffee when you come. He’s steaming mad and needs something cool.
"We've got it."
Gu Seong-Cheol and I exchanged glances and stood up.
However, a worry sprung up at the same time.
‘There's no way Woo Sung-Chan is just going to sit still...’ I pondered.
***
[Woo Sung-Chan. Expelled from Hoop Entertainment! Full compensation for the victims of the bullying incident.]
Just 24 hours after the school violence incident went public, Woo Sung-Chan was notified of his expulsion from Hoop Entertainment.
Woo Sung-Chan cursed and let out a bitter chuckle. "Fuck this. The great Woo Sung-Chan can't just die off like this. Hehe."
Drenched in alcohol and unable to contain his rage, Woo Sung-Chan found himself at a rental apartment in Jamsil.
Lee Si-Yoon was the one who provided decisive evidence in the article that exploded today.
Woo Sung-Chan had thought Lee Si-Yoon was just an ordinary fool, but he never knew he was vicious enough to have taken photos of his beatings over the last three years, each documented by date and even keeping audio recordings.
Lee Si-Yoon had dug up the past just as Woo Sung-Chan was about to spread his wings and soar, ruining everything.
"That dumbass dared to spray shit on my life, huh?" Woo Sung-Chan growled.
Woo Sung-Chan had planned to come to the apartment with his close friend Lee Se-Myung, but he wouldn't even answer his calls, perhaps having heard of his expulsion from the entertainment industry.
As the rain was drizzling from the sky, Woo Sung-Chan trudged forward with his black raincoat pulled tightly over him. The cold raindrops seeped into his coat, but he felt no chill as he was blinded by anger.
"Next to Lee Si-Yoon is that bastard Jung Yoon-Ho..." Woo Sung-Chan muttered to himself and fiddled with the knife hidden inside his coat.
He was worried about being caught by security. Fortunately for him, the guard station at the entrance of the apartment on the first floor was empty, perhaps because the guard was out on patrol.
Feeling as if even the heavens were aiding his revenge, Woo Sung-Chan slowly made his way to the elevator.
The run-down rental apartment had no security camera, prompting a smirk from Woo Sung-Chan.
"He he. See? Even the heavens support my revenge."
Ding.
When Woo Sung-Chan stepped out on the seventh floor, he noticed the long corridor of the rental apartment was dimly lit by flickering incandescent bulbs.
As he walked down the dimly lit corridor, Woo Sung-Chan steeled his resolve. He hadn't encountered anyone on the way up nor were there any security cameras around.
The staggering Woo Sung-Chan reached the front of Lee Si-Yoon’s apartment.
Then he carefully pressed the doorbell.
Ding-dong.
Lee Si-Yoon's voice came from beyond the door. "Who is it?"
Woo Sung-Chan started to act with a trembling voice. "Si-Yoon. It's me, Sung-Chan."
-Go away! Leave before I call the police!
Lee Si-Yoon's voice was icy cold.
'Hah! Such treatment from someone who used to tremble without even making eye contact,' Woo Sung-Chan thought to himself.
But Woo Sung-Chan had braced himself for such coldness.
Hoping that Lee Si-Yoon might open the door, he began to act with a defeated voice.
"I'm so sorry, Si-Yoon. Please, just show me your face. I'll apologize and leave right away. Please."
-I have nothing to say to you. Go away.
Thud.
Woo Sung-Chan's knees hit the soggy and sticky corridor floor.
"I'll stay here on my knees until you open the door."
He continued his act with a seriousness he had never felt before, focused solely on getting Lee Si-Yoon to open the door.
-Sigh. A-alright, get up. I'll come out.
Lee Si-Yoon's voice trembled before stopping.
At that moment, Woo Sung-Chan pulled out the knife he had hidden and grinned sinisterly.
'He he he.Come on out,' Woo Sung-Chan said silently with a smirk on his face.
After a while, the door clicked open.
Click.
In that instant, Woo Sung-Chan sprung up and dashed inside with a shout.
"Die, you fucking bastard!"
Ristretto's Thoughts
Uh oh. I'm counting on you, Yoon-Ho.
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